


Who Do You Love (A Rob Dyke Fanfiction)

by chasingeden



Series: Who Do You Love [1]
Category: Rob Dyke (YouTube RPF), Rob Dyke - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship, Past Relationship(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-22 08:30:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8279530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasingeden/pseuds/chasingeden
Summary: Rosanna had the perfect life. It was far from what she had always wanted, but she loved her life. When it all comes crashing down around her, she finds refuge in her old friend from college, now famous YouTuber Rob Dyke. Will the two be able to settle their past differences and get back to their friendship? Or will the stars align and show a much bigger picture?
Titled after the song Who Do You Love by Marianas Trench. "God it's been so long wide awake that I feel like someone else. I miss the way that you saw me, or maybe the way I saw myself. But I came back to you broken, and I've been away too long. I hear the words I've spoken, and everything comes out wrong. I just can't get this together, can't get where I belong. Who do you love?"





	1. Beat Back Love

When you fall in love with someone, you end up letting your guard down, whether you like it or not. This is exactly why it was never part of my plan. I had seen the way love had torn apart people, and I wanted no part of it. From the time I was little, I had my whole life planned out. It was simple, really: go through the motions of public school, go to college, get a degree in journalism, travel the world, and then retire some nice new place. I never thought I was asking for much, and I just assumed that was basically the path everyone had to take. I didn’t question it. No lifelong plan can go exactly as it’s supposed to, though. I know that now.

Originally, everything went smoothly. I graduated high school and moved from my home in the state of New York to a city outside of Boston for college. I made some really amazing friends there, and I worked hard to earn my degree. After graduation, unfortunately, all of that came to a startling to halt, solely because I met Trevor. I wouldn’t call it love at first sight, but it felt like it happened that fast. I saw his band play a local show, and we hit it off immediately. The rest is, as they say, history. We went through each milestone until finally, we got engaged. I had never been so happy in my life. Of course, it wasn’t perfect. I mainly supported us with our job, since his only career was as a drummer for an unknown. We definitely didn’t always agree. Still, I was happy. I knew that he was the one I wanted to share my life with, and there were no doubts in my mind.

That is, until I came home to find him a compromising positions with one of his “groupies.” 

“What the fuck, Trevor? Who the fuck is this?” I questioned, shooting a glare at the other woman. 

“Rose, I, uh...it isn’t what it looks like?” He grinned sheepishly, feigning innocence.

“Do NOT call me Rose,” I said with a scoff at his response. “You really think that’s going to work on me now? When all the proof I need is right in front of my eyes? You must think I’m really dumb, don’t you?” I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away. I couldn’t give him that satisfaction. “No, you know what? Have fun. Go fuckin’ wild, I don’t care. I’m done. Better say your goodbyes now. You won’t be seeing me again.” 

I didn’t stay very long after that. I quickly packed a bag of basic necessities, deciding I just needed to be anywhere else other than at our apartment, all the while ignoring his pleas. The rest of my stuff was a problem for another time. I continued ignoring him as I left, trying to steel myself as best as I could in front of him, and even once I was outside. The tears soon started to flow freely though, despite my best efforts.

Not knowing what else to do, I started walking down the street, trying to distract myself, but I had no idea where I was going. I had nowhere to go. The only friends I had were all Trevor’s friends, my family lived hours away, and the only car I had had was in my now ex-fiance’s possession. I had no idea what to do. I needed someone, though, anyone to help me forget that I had just had my heartbroken. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanted to deal with a recently dumped girl, but I had to find something. Or at least a place to stay.

Desperately, I began searching through the contacts in my phone, looking for a familiar, not Trevor related name. With each name I scrolled past, my heart seemed to sink even more. Even by the time I got to the “D” section, I was sure I was hopeless, at least until I saw a name I had tried not to think about for the last few years: Rob Dyke.


	2. When I Needed You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ro calls on Rob for help, but things are off to a very rocky start.

Seeing his name brought back a flurry of memories, both good and bad, but mostly good. Rob had basically been my best friend throughout the duration of college. I struggled greatly to make friends when I first moved to a new city and state, and we had a class together and sort of hit it off. He had his own group of friends, but they all welcomed me happily. Who knows if I even would have survived college without Rob. I smiled at the thought, but it quickly faded. I hadn’t spoken to him in almost five years, and the last time I saw him hadn’t exactly ended well. But, I was desperate. I needed some compassion and that was something Rob was always good at despite a tough exterior.

I took a deep breath before selecting his contact picture and and pressing “call.” With each ring, I became more and more nervous. I tried to plan out what I was going to say, but I could only think that maybe I made a mistake in calling him. I had almost convinced myself to hang up when I heard a familiar, deep voice on the other end. There was no going back now.

“Hello? Who’s this?” Rob asked with a slight sigh.

I was a little saddened that he hadn’t kept my number all these years, but I guess I couldn’t blame him for that. “Uh, hey, Rob. It’s Rosanna. From college? I don’t know if you remember me but---”

“I remember who you are. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” His voice came through as deadpan and cold, and I frowned. This was a mistake, but what other choice did I have?

“Well, uh, I...sort of need a favor. As soon as possible.” I added, trying to at least get him to pity me. I thought that that would have been my only in at that point.

He paused briefly. I could only imagine how unhappy he looked at this point. “Why are you asking me for a favor?”

“I don’t have anyone else to turn to, okay?” I blurted this out without thinking, but took another breath to compose myself. “I...sorry. I’ll figure something out. I just...I’m sorry for bugging you.”

I didn’t waste a second in trying to hang up, but before I could press the button his voice came through again, exasperated. “What do you need?”

I breathed a sigh of relief, putting the phone back up to my ear. “First thing’s first, can you come pick me up? I’m downtown, not too far from that bar we always used to go to. I can meet you there?”

“Fine. See you soon.” He abruptly hung up, but I was satisfied. At least it was a start.

I began walking toward the bar, bag in tow and reminiscing about my college days. It wasn’t a long walk, but after so much happening all at once, my brain was still running a million miles a minute. For the moment, I was numb to everything. I could pretend like the life I had built wasn’t crashing down around me. I had no idea what to expect from Rob once he arrived, but I tried to focus on the good times we had instead.

Once I got to my destination, I waited around outside for a bit, looking around absentmindedly. I hadn’t realized I was in a daze until I heard someone calling my name, and I snapped out of it. I soon found Rob standing in front of his car, parked just a little ways down the street. I quickly went to him, smiling at him in greeting. Instinctively, I opened my arms to hug him, but he just looked at me blankly. “Okay, no hug, then. But, hi! It’s been a long time. How are you?”

“I’m fine. Where am I taking you?” He asked coldly, folding his arms in front of him.

“Well, that brings me to the second part of my favor---” I began, but was quickly interrupted.

“You never said there was a second part. I thought I was giving you a ride and that’s it.” He questioned, his voice finally showing some emotion. Not a good emotion, but one nonetheless.

I gave him a confused look. “I said ‘first things first.’ That implies there’s another part.”

He looked like he was about to rebut, but changed his mind. “Yeah, whatever. What do you want?”

“Do you have any room at your place for a guest? Or have a friend that might? It would just be for tonight. I think. I’m going to start looking for a new place first thing tomorrow and stop bugging you as soon possible.” I felt like an asshole, that I was asking for too much from someone I hadn’t spoken to in years. Despite so much time having passed, I could tell he wasn’t happy. I was always one of the few people that could read him easily.

Rob paused, clearly thinking through his response before he spoke. He looked back at me, but glanced away quickly, and sighed. “I have a guest room. That should do. Get in the car.”

I wasn’t used to him being so gruff with me, but I got into the car without putting up a fight, setting my bag at my feet. It was silent as he pulled away from the bar, and I tried to find the words to fill the empty space. “So, uh...how have you been?”

“You already asked that.” He responded curtly, eyes focused on the road.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, exasperated with how difficult he was being. “Okay, fine. What have you been doing? Where do you work?”

“Jesus, you really haven’t been keeping up with your old friend,” he scoffed, mimicking my eye roll. “Are you going to skip the bullshit small talk and tell me why I had to stop everything to come get you or are you going to skirt around the issue?”

At this point, my patience had run thin. I didn’t care if he was my only option; I would have gone back to Trevor before I’d let anyone treat me like Rob was. “Look, Rob, I get that you’re pissed at me. You have every right to be, okay? That doesn’t give you the right to be a fucking douchebag, though. I’ve been through a lot of shit in the last hour and I will go sleep in a damn box if it means you’ll stop yelling at me.”

I had tried to be tough, wanting to play off the anger I felt toward Trevor, but it wasn’t working. I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I spoke, and when I was finally done speaking, I broke down into sobs, and it became the only sound filling the car. Naturally, Rob was taken aback, looking back at me with an eyebrow raised before focusing on the road again. Even when we had been good friends, he had never seen me cry. It was silent for a moment before he spoke. “Yeah...okay. I’m sorry.” He took in a deep breath before continuing. “I, uh...I see you’re engaged. Didn’t expect that one.”

I looked back at my left hand, not even realizing I still had my ring on. Without hesitation, I pulled it off my finger. “No, not anymore. I’m a free woman.” I rolled down my window, tossing it out into the open space before rolling the window back up. I took a few deep breaths to compose myself and wiped away some tears before speaking again. “I know I’m a basket case right now, and I hate asking you to do this. I do. You shouldn’t have to stop everything for someone you haven’t talked to in years. I didn’t know what else to do. All of my so called friends are connected to my now ex-fiance. You were the only person I could think of.”

“I’m sorry, Ro. I didn’t know the circumstances, but I still shouldn’t have been such an asshole. Don’t sweat it, okay? You can stay at my place for awhile. I’m sorry.” His voice came through as nervous now, and it was a nice change from the coldness I had been receiving.

“You called me Ro. That’s a start. I knew you were still in there somewhere.” I smiled softly at him after hearing the old nickname. “I promise I’ll start looking for a new place starting tomorrow, though. I definitely don’t want to impose forever.”

I could see the corners of his mouth twitch into a smile, but he immediately stopped it from fully forming. “Old habits die hard, I guess.”

The rest of the drive to his house was much calmer, filled with civil chatter instead of any harsh words. I retold the full story about what had happened by the time we got there, but he didn’t comment much. He was always one to just listen, though, so I didn’t take it personally.

Once inside, he showed me to the guest room to set my stuff down, leaving me alone to get settled. The room was pretty basic, containing only a bed, closet, night stand, and a small TV, but that worked perfectly for me. I had begun unpacking my laptop to look for apartments when he came into the room, knocking lightly on the doorframe. He was now dressed in a suit coat, tshirt, and jeans, and I was looked back at him expectantly for an explanation. “Hey, uh, I’m going to be filming for awhile, so I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”

“Filming? What are you filming in that fancy get-up?” I asked with a laugh and a curious look.

“It’s for my Youtube channel. Gotta pay the bills somehow,” Rob shrugged.

“You’re one of those Youtubers, huh? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” I smiled, remembering how he had been interested in film. “Can I watch?”

“Uh...sure, I guess. It’s not too exciting. It’s just me standing in front of a wall, talking about creepy things, and cursing in between takes.” He explained. He probably didn’t want to spend a lot of time with me while I was staying there, but I just wanted another human presence. Wallowing by myself wouldn’t do me any good.

I grabbed my laptop, and stood up. “You won’t even notice I’m there. I’ll be multitasking in the corner or something,” I added with a nod. “Lead the way!”

He sighed yet again, as was custom around me I suppose, and then led me his film sets. He had a few different walls, each decorated differently. He positioned his camera in front of a dark purple wall, and I sat on the floor off to the side. I tried to look like I was busy doing something on my laptop, but I was focused on him filming. He seemed to restrain himself around me, trying to keep up his professional demeanor even between takes. I wasn’t sure if this was the case, but he kept taking quick glances at me after almost every take finished.

After a few hours, he finished filming. I followed him upstairs back to my room, and he told me he was going to bed. He waved a goodnight toward me before beginning to walk down the hall, but I wasn’t ready to go to sleep yet. Something had been bugging me while I was watching him film.

“Hey, Rob?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of my new bed as casually as possible.

I heard a sigh from down the hallway, and then footsteps leading back up to my room. “Yes, Ro?”

“I think we should talk,” I offered, making a place beside me on the bed. I folded my hands in my lap to stop them from shaking so nervously as they had been. 

Rob quirked an eyebrow up in questioning, otherwise keeping his expression emotionless. “What’s there to talk about?”

“Us. And the last time we saw each other,” I began, looking back at him hopefully. If he would meet me halfway, we could be friends again. But, we both had to try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for a little drama! There will be a little bit more to come and then some time to build up again. Hope you've enjoyed the ride so far, and I hope to see you in the next chapter!


	3. Sugar, We're Goin Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ro decides it's time to get everything out in the open with Rob, but it becomes a little more than she bargained for when she remembers her past mistakes.

Rob sighed, looking back at me with a slightly annoyed expression. “Guess I should have expected this to come up, huh?”

I nodded, smiling and patting the bed space beside me. Reluctantly, he moved to the spot, making sure there was still a sizable gap between us. I turned so I facing him head on, but he avoided my gaze. I tried to wait until his eyes met mine, but it wasn’t happening. I had forgotten how stubborn he was. “Look, Rob, I’ve thought about that night a lot over the years. I know you think I didn’t pay attention to your existence after that, but I thought about you a lot. I always wondered where you ended up, what if I had ended things differently.”

He finally looked at me, trying to keep the hardened expression on his face. “You keep being vague about it. Why not just come out and say it? I told you that I was basically in love with you, you rejected me, and then you dropped off the face of the earth. There. Was that so bad?”

“You’re right, I shouldn’t skirt around the issue,” I sighed, already beginning to grow frustrated with him. “I didn’t want to hurt you. I swear to God I didn’t. I just...I didn’t feel the same. And love wasn’t part of my plan. It never had been. It’s only been recently that that changed, and that ended up blowing up in my face. Guess I deserved it though.”

He shook his head before I even finished speaking, but allowed me to finish first. “Ro, I know. I knew all of that even when I told you. The only reason I said anything was because it was eating me alive to not tell you. I hated keeping a secret from one of my best friends, honestly. I didn’t think for a second you would feel the same. I guess I hoped you did, but logically, I knew it wouldn’t happen. That wasn’t my problem,” he took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair nervously. “I’m not some asshole who complains about being in the friendzone. What bothered me is that you decided to cut off all ties with me. That was the last thing I wanted.”

I gave him a confused look, shocked by his honesty. “I just didn’t think you would want to see me. I told you I didn’t feel the same way about you and that I couldn’t see myself ever doing so. Why would you want me around after that?”

“Why would I tell you that I loved you if I thought for a second that it would cause you to leave? If I had thought it would end the way it did, I wouldn’t have said a damn word.” He looked into my eyes, trying to drive his point across more.

“How was I supposed to know that you still wanted me around, Rob? I’ll be the first to admit that I handled everything poorly, but do you at least understand where I’m coming from?” I questioned, matching his intense look with one of my own. 

“Trust me, I get it. But I didn’t want it to happen. It wasn’t my intention,” he said firmly, eyes focusing back to the floor. “Are we done yet?”

“No, we’re not. We’re not even close. Look at me, Rob. Please,” Reluctantly, he moved his eyes back up to me, taking a deep breath. “You were the best friend I ever had. You were the person I could talk to about anything, and for the last five years, I haven’t had anything close to that. I want us to be friends again, okay? I want it to get back to the way it was.”

“You know it can’t be the same as it was before, Ro,” he stated, looking off again before forcing his eyes back to me.

“And why the hell not?” I wondered. I had thought of it as simple, that if we became friends again, it would go exactly back to the way it was before. 

He rolled his eyes a bit, clearly annoyed that I couldn’t see his point. “Because we weren’t just close friends, okay? Call it whatever you want, but it wasn’t friendship. Yeah, we did all the friend type things for each other. I’ll give you that. But what kind of best friends do you know hold hands in public spaces? What kind of best friends sleep together? How the hell do you think we can go back to that?”

My heart sank as he spoke. I hadn’t even remembered those parts of our friendship, and it never occurred to me that that wasn’t what best friends do. He was my only one, and it all came naturally. It felt right at the time, but I never thought of the repercussions. “Oh god,” I whispered, mostly to myself, but he was able to hear it. I wanted to cry again, but I tried to steel myself. “I led you on. All that time...I led you on. I was the worst fucking friend. I’m so sorry, Rob.”

He was about to respond, but I stood up, poised to grab my things and book it for the second time that day. He grabbed my wrist tightly, pulling me back down onto the bed. “You don’t have to leave, Ro. What’s done is done. I wouldn’t trade that time away for anything different.” He paused, thinking through his words. “Things can’t go back to the way they were, okay? They can’t. But I’ll be your friend. I would like that very much.”

This time, I was the one looking at the floor as he spoke, but I couldn’t help but smile at him as he finished speaking. “Thank you, Rob. I promise I’ll be a better friend this time. I swear I will.”

He didn’t return the smile, but nodded in response. He stood up slowly, glancing back at me. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

This time, I let him leave, closing my bedroom door behind him. I rested my head against the door for a minute, taking in everything that had happened all in one day. Despite my mind racing, I was exhausted, and I soon climbed into bed. I fell asleep fairly quickly, but wondering why I would have acted like a couple with Rob and then rejected him in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter done, many more to go! I hope you've enjoyed so far. The story gets less heavy from here for awhile, so I hope you decide to stick around


	4. I Hope This Comes Back to Haunt You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ro decides it's time to pack up her stuff from her old apartment, and she brings Rob along to help, hoping they can bond again.

The next morning, I woke up a little confused to be in a new bed, but quickly remembered the day before. It wasn’t the most positive way to wake up, but I tried to change my thinking. Things could only get better from rock bottom, I thought. With a sigh, I slowly climbed out of bed, grabbing my phone off the bedside table. I tiptoed quietly out of the room, peeking down the hall for any sign of Rob, but found no trace of him. It was only 9 AM; it made sense for him to still be sleeping, but I wasn't sure what to do. I thought about waiting for him to wake up to make any sort of move, but I didn't know how long that would be. I considered giving myself a tour of his house, but I didn't think that snooping around would get me into his good graces. After a couple minutes, I resigned myself to at least explore the kitchen. He couldn't get mad at me for wanting food.

Upon entering the kitchen, I had the idea to make breakfast for him. I figured that I had to win him over somehow, and that I should start as soon as possible. Rummaging through his cupboards, I found all the necessary ingredients and tools to make pancakes, and quickly set to work, playing some music from my phone to help the process. Soon, all of my attention was focused on the task at hand, humming along to each song that came on. By the time I had almost finished cooking, I hadn't even noticed Rob come into the room, and I jumped a bit at the unexpected sight.

“Jesus, Rob. Say something next time,” I laughed, placing a stack of pancakes on a plate. “Are you hungry? I made us both some breakfast. I hope you don't mind. I just thought you might like a nice wake up call.”

Rob raised an eyebrow at me, leaning against the counter. “Since when did you know how to cook? Last I knew, you survived on fast food and anything microwaveable.”

I couldn't help but smile. He still wasn't showing any outward signs of being amused, but I figured it would take time to crack his defenses. “Well, when you live with a deadbeat for a few years, you learn to adapt. Besides, that shit gets old real fast. It's nice to have a home cooked meal, especially when you're no longer a broke college student and can afford one.”

I separated the pancakes equally onto two plates, and finished setting out a bottle of syrup and some butter. I slid one plate and a fork across the counter to him with another smile before taking up my own. “Dig in, my friend. It's not poisoned, I promised.”

“Hmm...that sounds exactly like something a person who poisoned my food would say. But eh, I figure you would have a hell of a time trying to get rid of my body, so I doubt you’d go to the trouble,” he shrugged, the corners of his mouth trying to twitch into a smile, but not succeeding.

I shook my head, laughing again. “Guess I should have expected you to still be the morbid one.”

“It's my job. Quite literally, actually. You got to see that part of my job last night, I guess.” He mentioned, finally beginning to eat.

“Maybe I'll have to actually check out your fancy YouTube channel later today,” I paused, a thought crossing my mind. “Hey, what are your plans today?”

He raised an eyebrow at me again, swallowing his food. A lot of his expressions came from his eyebrows, I thought. “Um, well, Justin’s coming over to film some stuff for Zombie Horse later, but until then, I don't have any plans. Why?”

“Well, I was thinking that I should go get the rest of my stuff from my old apartment, and I was wondering if you could come with me? Or at least give me a ride? I know that's probably the last thing you would want to do with your time, but I would really appreciate it.” I smiled sheepishly, hoping an innocent look would convince him.

“Oh, I see. You’re trying to butter me up with pancakes to throw me into an awkward situation. How wonderful,” he rolled his eyes playfully. “Yeah, that sounds like a ball. Whoop de fuckin’ do.”

“Think of it as a bonding experience! Besides, he's usually never there anyway. He's with his shitty band 90% of the time, so I highly doubt he’ll make an appearance. If he does, he won't want to stay long if I'm there.” I said firmly, still hoping to convince him somehow.

Rob sighed, avoiding my gaze for a moment. “Fine. Let’s just make it a quick trip, okay?”

I grinned, thankful to have some company. “It will be as quick as possible, I promise!”

The rest of our breakfast was pleasant, mainly trying to catch up on all the time we had missed. I asked him a lot of questions about his life, not really wanting to discuss mine. I wasn't exactly proud of all the time I had wasted. Slowly, WE we're falling back into the old routine. I had forgotten how easy it was to talk to Rob. After eating, we separated into our rooms to get ready before heading back to my apartment, hopefully for the last time.

On the ride back, Rob asked about Trevor a bit, but I brushed it off by repeating all the words I had used before, like “deadbeat.” Upon arriving, I knocked on the door, but heard no response, and proceeded to let myself in with the spare key. The place looked slightly more trashed than normal, beer cans scattered around the TV listlessly. Other than that, the only abnormality was a piece of paper on the table addressed to me, written in a messy scrawl. I took the note, skimmed through the empty apologies, then crumbled up the paper, tossing it to the floor.  
Ignoring Rob’s questioning glance, I turned to him with a smile. “Let's get started! Really the only things I need to grab are clothes and some stuff for work. The rest is basically his junk, so it shouldn't take long.”

He nodded, not prying any further. I led him back to the bedroom, beginning to take clothes from the closet. “You can just sit, or something. Really I just needed the moral support.”

Rob looked around the room, casually observing each detail. Most of the decorations were pictures or posters, almost all of them related to music or his band. “You almost married a dude who has a picture of his own face by his bed?”

I looked at the picture he was pointing to, rolling my eyes. “Yeah, uh, that was the first piece of so called fan art he ever got. But I don't think it counts if you have to ask someone to draw it for you.”

“God almighty. I'm actually concerned for your mental well being up until yesterday. What’s wrong with you?” He joked, shaking his head.

I couldn't help but laugh. “A whole lotta shit, dude. That's what's wrong with me.”

He glanced back at me as I spoke, and to my surprise, he laughed, the smile sticking to his face. It had been so long since I'd seen it that I couldn't help but let out an excited gasp. “What’s that for?”

“You smiled at me! And laughed at my joke!! Dear god, There you are. I knew my best friend was still in there somewhere.” I grinned.

His face tried to turn into a stern, serious expression. “I did no such thing.”

“Shut the fuck up. You smiled. Drop the act. You can't escape it now!” I pointed at him, still smiling.

He sighed in exasperation, but a small smile returned to his face as well. “Goddammit. Fine. Whatever.”

The rest of packing seemed to breeze by, and I actually found myself having fun. It was nice to have a good time with Rob again, and it felt like we were getting back to the basics, like we had already started over. I also didn't feel any nostalgia in packing up, and the distraction helped me a lot. By the time we finished, the room looked emptier, and I only felt a little sad. I perused the small apartment briefly to find any stray items I needed, and then decided I was ready to go. I couldn't bring myself to take one last look as we left, and I tried to just keep moving forward. Now was the time to forget about Trevor and my past life, so I could build a new one.

I loaded my stuff into Rob’s car, closing the back hatch with a firm click. I turned to him, smiling slightly. “Hey, thank you so much for tagging along. You really helped me out. And I'll make it up to you somehow. I can take you out to dinner or something. Whatever you want.”

Rob was about to respond, but we were interrupted by Trevor bounding towards us. “Rose! Hey! I was hoping you'd come back. Listen, I-”

“I don't have time for this, Trevor. I just came to get my stuff. You won't be seeing me again.” I turned back to Rob. “You ready?” I didn't wait for an answer before hurrying to get in the car, shutting the door firmly behind me.

Trevor tapped on my window, but I instructed Rob to just drive, which he did. As we pulled away, he looked at me, an eyebrow raised in questioning. “Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “Listen, I know you're trying to be helpful, and you are. But, lets not talk about him again, okay? I want to move on to bigger and better things.”

He nodded in understanding, and I immediately tried to launch the discussion into something more cheery.

Not long after we returned him and I was unpacking my stuff, I heard the doorbell ring. I waited to see if Rob would answer it, but I didn't hear any footsteps, and went to answer it myself. I opened the door to be greeted by a tall, skinny man with shaggy dark hair, dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and pajamas pants. This had to be the Justin guy Rob had told me about. “Hi! You must be Justin. I'm Rosanna. You can call me that or Ro. I don't know what Rob’s doing, but come in!”

Justin eyed me suspiciously as he walked in, but I pretended not to notice. I called down the hallway for Rob, telling him his friend had arrived. “So, you’re Ro? I've heard quite a bit about you.”  
I looked back at Justin curiously, letting out a nervous laugh. “Good things, I hope.”

He shook his head, looking like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. “Look, I don't know much. But...you realize you really fucked him up, right? For quite awhile?”

My face fell, and I was taken off guard by the sudden seriousness. I had expected Justin to be more easygoing, but I should have known Rob’s friends would be a little protective of him. “Yeah. I know. And I...I'm working to be a better person. The kind of person that deserves to be friends with someone like Rob. I know I shouldn't have that shot, but, I'm not taking it for granted. It's not going to happen again.”

Justin nodded in understanding. “Alright. Sounds good. He's my best friend, you know? I don't want him to get hurt.”

“Yeah, I get it. You have every right to question me,” I noticed Rob coming down the hallway finally, and I breathed a sort of sigh of relief. Maybe I would grow on Justin, but at that moment, I was far from his favorite person, and I didn't like that. I started heading back to my room.

“Ro, do you wanna stay and watch us play a game? That's basically all we do on Zombie Horse. There's no doubt you'll get frustrated with us, but you might have fun,” Rob offered with a smile.

I looked to Justin for approval, and he nodded, so I agreed. I would have plenty of time to unpack in the morning. After a whole day of ups and downs, I was ready to relax for the night, and possibly even win over Justin. Rob was right, as I found myself rolling my eyes at their ridiculous comments, but I had fun. I hadn't realized until in the moment, but being around Rob again was the first good time I had had in what felt like years. Maybe it actually had been years. Either way, it was a nice change. I just didn't want to fuck it up again. I couldn't fuck it up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long! College is a bitch. Hopefully I can get the fifth chapter out soon! Thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short chapter, but it will work for the introduction. Hope you enjoyed! There's much more to come!


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